Tuesday, October 9, 2018

Update 78 - Guardians of the Crystal Spire

Minion Masters!

The third Battle Pass Season is here! Guardians of the Crystal Spire is the new season with the Crystal Elves having their debut as a new faction in Minion Masters!
We’ve revamped the Battle Pass with more rewards and better accessibility, and we have a ton of balance changes to come in this update as well. But that’s not all - we’re also starting a new event - Twitch Memote Mêlée! Let’s go full meme, Masters!

Twitch Memote Mêlée

The Masters have drawn up lines once more, and fight each for their own expression.

Team Puffa - Apep, Ravager, Settsu

Team PuffChamp - Ratbo, King Puff, Stormbringer

Team WutPuff - Volco, Milloween, Mordar

Collect keys for a Team by playing with its Masters.

Open the chest for that Team to receive its special Memote

You can only open the chest once!

The chest also contains additional rewards, but those are the same no matter your Team.

A counter will show how much each team is picked, but there will be no further consequence than the reward you’ve received.

Balance

Screaming Scrat

Mana Cost 2 -> 1

--- Developer comments ---
Screaming Scrat, while definitely have an unusual design worthy of being a Legendary card. Unfortunately, it was much harder to use than expected, with the taunt not being able to achieve enough value to justify its mana cost. With this change it should be a fun and impactful small card you can use without being punished too much in terms of mana.

Sun Burn

Mana Cost 4 -> 3

--- Developer comments ---
Sun Burn was simply too expensive to use in the majority of situations it was designed for, and its versatility was held back as a result as you would have to try and obtain optimal value from either of its effects. By reducing it to 3 it should make its abilities far more efficient to use.

Stormbringer

Damage 40 -> 35

--- Developer comments ---
Stormbringer, while he was in need of a buff, was unfortunately overtuned and became very frustrating to play against as he either whittled down your midrange units or made a lot of small cards completely irrelevant in his matchup alone. Hopefully by reducing his damage a small amount, he can still be an effective master without being too oppressive to play against.

Grenadier

Mana Cost 3 -> 2

Health 85 -> 60

Damage 50 -> 40

--- Developer comments ---
One of the oldest cards in Minion Masters, we’ve tried to buff it over time after it got phased out by better AoE cards like the Flame Imp, but ultimately this was unsuccessful. As such we have decided to redesign it and give it a new purpose as the cheap AoE with a major weakness.

Clear Skies

Mana Cost 4 -> 3

--- Developer comments ---
A card that was initially perceived as slightly risky to add to the game, Clear Skies ultimately didn’t seem to have enough value for either the healing or the buff removal at 4 mana. Hopefully this reduction emphasises those applications.

Banner Man

Mana Cost 2 -> 3

Health 100 -> 150

Damage 10 -> 15

--- Developer comments ---
Banner Man was a controversial card due to its ease of gaining value against spells in the hands of a skill player, with his instant effect blocking incoming spells with single damage instances. By increasing it to 3 mana you still retain the effectiveness of its ability to counter spells, but is less effective for cycling or bridge control.

Empowered Soul Stealer

Souls gained from friendly minion having rage 3 -> 4

--- Developer comments ---
Empowered Soul Stealer saw some minor interest, but it overall failed to meet expectations in its performance. However, we don’t believe a major balance change is required to improve the card to be viable, so a minor soul increase should make its condition more impactful.

Rabid Prowler

Now gains rage AND frenzy if you have a rage minion.

--- Developer comments ---
Frenzy was simply not worth it on a card that relies on its high impact damage to provide the basis for running the card, especially when locked behind a conditional effect on a high mana cost minion. By adding Rage to the card, it should be far more appealing to work into your deck.

Ravenous Swarmers

Conditional effect now triggers upon any spell being cast

--- Developer comments ---
Ravenous Swarmers ended up being too specific with its relatively minor effect for it to be worth running over Swarmers. By greatly extending the rage of its Condition, the card should now be a great option in any deck that runs spells, but applicable in more situations.

Demon Warrior

Health 400 -> 450

Evolution health remains unchanged at +300

Propeller Horde

Scrats 5(10) -> 6(12)

Battle Pass Changes

The amount of Battle Pass Tiers have increased from 70 to 100.

200 Season Bonus can now be gained at Free Tier 5. This should help both new players and experienced players progress through the new tiers.

There are now Weekly Quests where you win 10 games to earn 2 Battle Pass Tiers. The modes required for these quests will change occasionally, but for the first week it is set to 2v2.

There is a start of Season quest for winning 15 games in any mode to earn 4 Battle Pass Tiers.

If you have multiple tiers of rewards unlocked, claiming a tier will claim all unclaimed tiers at once. Multiple rewards of the same type will be consolidated into one chest - I.E. 3 Season Tokens will become one chest, rather than requiring you to open three.

Guardians of the Crystal Spire

This content season will last for 2 months

8 new cards have been released! These are:

Crystal Archers - 3 mana Common Ranged Minion

These Crystal Elves are deadly at long range, but fragile up close. Their Mana Surge (+50% Attack Speed while you have 6+ mana) enables them to empower their attacks even further.

Crystal Construct - 5 mana Common Melee Minion

This relative of the Guardian acts as both the shield and stockpile for the magically dependant elven army. A huge chunk of HP with limited offense options, the Construct will grant its master +2 Mana when summoned.

Crystal Sentry - 4 mana Rare Ranged Minion

A tough elite warrior that uses his fancy (and deadly!) glaives to cut the opposition down to size. He also comes with Mana Surge (+50% Attack Speed while you have 6+ mana), making him a semi-tank more than capable of defending himself from ground and aerial assault.

Crystal Arcanist - 3 mana Rare Ranged Minion

A long ranged AoE caster with more fashion sense than practical combat clothing. She’s able to wipe out groups of enemies from afar thanks to her strong range and Mana Surge (+50% Attack Speed while you have 6+ mana) - Just make sure you keep her safe.

Mana Puff Madness - 2 mana Supreme Spell

Summons 4 Mana Puffs at the Master Tower for each team. Mana Puffs are attracted to the flow of mana, but you can never know what they will do when they appear - besides look cute!

Armored Escort - 6 mana Supreme Spell

Summons two Crystal Sentries to escort the next Ranged Minion you play. It’s good, efficient protection on the fly that can pack a serious punch.

Arcane Bolt - 5 mana Legendary Spell

This powerful Elven magic will stun the highest health unit in its radius, or instantly kill it if it has less than 400 Health. Use it to dismantle pushes or take out annoyances before they get out of hand at a premium.

Lord-Sentinel Thelec - 10 mana Legendary Melee Minion

Sworn to defend the Crystal Spire, Lord-Sentinel Thelec comes with his own legion of Elves. If you have 4 or more spells in your deck (including Master perks), Thelec will summon 6 Crystal Archers in a line directly behind him. It’s an all-in-one push package, but those archers are as fragile as ever.
He also has the Mana Surge ability (+50% Attack Speed while you have 6+ mana) and can pack a serious punch.

The new cards are available in Season Tokens found in the Battle Pass (see above)

They can also be Recruited for 3x the normal shard value of other cards

After 2 months, the cards will be part of the normal set, get their crafting costs set back to normal, and appear in normal Power Tokens

3 new skins and 4 new emotes are also available from the Battle Pass.

Wheel of Doom Status

The Wheel of Doom voted into the game in the Best Of tournament some time ago hit some pretty large snags we didn’t expect. This meant we had to prioritize other things to make them ready for the upcoming Discord launch. We’re sorry about the delay, but are happy to inform you that it will be coming to Minion Masters in Update 81, as the Twitch event ends!

Misc

By popular demand, the old Emote menu is back! It can be accessed in-game just like before, so now you have the choice between carefully picking out the right emote for the situation or using the quicker Emote Wheel on the fly.

The new card Lord-Sentinel Thelec will not be available in random Card Pools such as Draft or Future cards.

Added some Grass to the Starting Arena - This can be turned off in the World Details graphics setting as part of Misc Objects, and doesn’t show up in a match.